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DEAR COLLEAGUE LETTER

DCL-05-16

DATE: June 15, 2005

TO: ALL STATE IV-D DIRECTORS

RE: DFAS Restitution Letters

Dear Colleague:

This letter is to provide you with an update on the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) restitution letters states may have recently received. The Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) has been discussing this matter with DFAS in an effort to resolve it. We are pleased to inform you that DFAS has provided us with instructions on the process to request a waiver.

Background

During the past few weeks, state disbursement units (SDUs) and individual counties have received letters from DFAS asking for restitution of child support payments sent between 1999 and 2003. An internal DFAS audit found that child support payments had been made on behalf of Navy service members who were no longer in the service at the time the payments were made.

OCSE discussed the situation with the Assistant General Counsel, Garnishment Operations and others at DFAS. We explained that Federal regulations require states to disburse child support payments to the custodial families within two business days and that it was unlikely that these funds would still be available to return to DFAS. Following is the process by which states/counties can respond to DFAS to request a waiver.

Instructions

Write a letter on SDU or county letterhead to the following individual:

Reference each letter of restitution so that DFAS can identify the appropriate noncustodial parents (NCP). A list/spreadsheet of NCPs’ names, SSNs, and Case IDs is sufficient.

If your state/county still has the payment, return the funds by paper check to DFAS with remittance information for each NCP’s payment(s).

If your state/county does not have the payments explain that the child support payment received from DFAS was owed by the NCP (Navy service member), credited to their child support obligation(s), and disbursed to the custodial family. Affirm that, therefore, your SDU or county is unable to return the payment(s).

If any involved case has been closed, please include that information.

If you have any questions, please contact Nancy Benner at (202) 401-5528 or nbenner@acf.hhs.gov.

Sincerely,

David H. Siegel
Acting Commissioner, Office of Child Support Enforcement